705th Tank Destroyer Battalion
Encyclopedia
The 705th Tank Destroyer Battalion was a tank destroyer battalion
of the United States Army
active during the Second World War. It was originally formed from artillery elements of the 5th Armored Division, and its lineage is today perpetuated by the 75th Cavalry Regiment
.
The battalion operated in northern France with Third Army in 1944, where it fought in Brittany at the capture of Brest
, and then along the Moselle River
, reaching Germany at the end of the year. During the Battle of the Bulge
, it was engaged at the Siege of Bastogne along with the 101st Airborne Division
, where it received the Presidential Unit Citation, and in the spring of 1945 it advanced through southern Germany with the 11th Armored Division, reaching Austria by the end of the war.
s, before moving to Oregon in early 1943 and receiving the new M10 Wolverine
tank destroyer. Whilst at the Tank Destroyer Center in Texas, they were described by General A. D. Bruce
as "the finest" tank destroyer battalion yet trained.
The battalion transferred to New York, and then boarded the liner Queen Elizabeth
on 18 April for the voyage to the United Kingdom. It arrived in Scotland on the 27th, and set up camp in southern England on 1 June.
on the 18th, equipped with M18 Hellcat
tank destroyers. After two weeks of being held in reserve, they were moved to the front line on the 31st and attached to a task force of Third Army which was assigned to capture the ports along the north coast of Brittany; it pushed through Avranches
and turned westwards towards Brest
; from 6 to 16 August B Company was attached to the 83rd Infantry Division. On 17 August, the battalion liberated the town of Paimpol
, on the north coast of Brittany.
On 23 August, one company (B) was assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division, fighting in the Battle for Brest
; it was released on 19 September. Meanwhile, the remainder of the battalion was employed fighting on the Crozon Peninsula to the south of the port through September. A shortage of M18s in the supply chain – most battalions in France were equipped with M10s at the time – led to the battalion being assigned a number of M4A3 Shermans
, which carried the same 76mm gun
, as temporary replacements.
The battalion regrouped in late September, and trained replacements, before moving to the Moselle River
. The battalion was attached to the 95th Infantry Division on 15 October, and deployed to relieve the 818th Tank Destroyer Battalion
in the Pagny bridgehead on the 20th. It withdrew from the bridgehead in early November, after providing indirect fire support, and was released by the 95th Division on 2 November. It crossed the Moselle again and moved northeast, crossing the border into Germany near Merschweiler on 18 November.
. The 705th, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Clifford D. Templeton, was ordered by Ninth Army to move south in the evening of 18 December, and join VIII Corps
at Bastogne
, a town on a critical road junction in the southern Ardennes. After delays to secure the town of Laroche
, and a short engagement in which the command group was attacked, the command and combat elements of the battalion had fully arrived in Bastogne late on the night of 19 December. Templeton detached two platoons to hold a bridge at Ortheuville and a platoon to Laroche
, and the supply and support elements were sent west, escorted by a single M18 and instructed to "hook up with some big friends".
A platoon was sent north from Bastogne on the early morning of the 20th to help relieve Task Force Desobry, defending the northeast approaches to the town. The platoon, accompanying a battalion of paratroopers, blunted the attack of 2nd Panzer Division, destroying a number of German tanks. The battalion was formally attached to the 101st Airborne Division
, the formation holding Bastogne, on 20 December, and was engaged throughout the siege, fighting a number of small actions. It provided a major part of the 101st's combat capabilities; on the 21st, the total armoured reserve available other than the 705th amounted to about forty operable medium tank
s.
On the 24th, it was distributed between the 101st's regiments; a platoon to the 501st
, two to the 506th
, two to the 502nd and four to the 327th, with one platoon deployed as a reserve in the town itself. On the 25th, Christmas Day, it was engaged in the thick of the fighting; an attack by eighteen Panzer IV
s of 15th Panzergrenadier Division was broken up by M18s of the battalion. One half of the attack was caught in a close-range action by units of the 502nd PIR and a platoon of B Company; two M18s were knocked out at the start of the engagement, but the other pair quickly accounted for three Panzer IVs. The other half, meanwhile, was caught in a crossfire between four M18s, a group of M4 Shermans, a group of 105mm howitzer
s and infantry bazooka
s and destroyed.
Throughout the siege, the battalion destroyed around 40 German tanks, and lost only six M18s. The battalion remained stationed in Bastogne for the remainder of the Battle of the Bulge, being released by the 101st on 18 January, and withdrawn to rest and refit. The battalion would later be awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for its role in the defence of Bastogne.
The battalion crossed the Kyll River on 6 March, and pushed towards the Rhine with the 11th Armored, fighting all through March. The 705th crossed the Rhine at Oppenheim
on 29 March, and continued to advance across southern Germany in April, seeing action in a number of small engagements. The battalion liberated two prisoner-of-war hospitals and a large forced-labour camp, and late in the month arrived at the Flossenbürg
and Buchenwald
concentration camps.
The battalion crossed the border into Austria on 1 May, and linked up with Soviet Army
troops on 8 May, the day that the German surrender was announced.
in June, and was inactivated in July. During its year in Europe, it lost 48 men, of whom 30 were killed at Bastogne, and received the Presidential Unit Citation
.
The battalion's lineage is currently maintained by the 1st Squadron, 75th Cavalry Regiment (1–75 CAV).
Tank destroyer battalion (United States)
The tank destroyer battalion was a type of unit used by the United States Army during World War II. The unit was organized in one of two different forms—a towed battalion equipped with anti-tank guns, or a self-propelled battalion equipped with armored tank destroyers. U.S. Army doctrine held that...
of the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
active during the Second World War. It was originally formed from artillery elements of the 5th Armored Division, and its lineage is today perpetuated by the 75th Cavalry Regiment
75th Cavalry Regiment (United States)
The 75th Cavalry Regiment is a United States Army cavalry regiment. Currently, only 1st Squadron , assigned to the 101st Airborne Division, is active.-Training and Activation:...
.
The battalion operated in northern France with Third Army in 1944, where it fought in Brittany at the capture of Brest
Battle for Brest
The Battle for Brest was one of the fiercest battles fought during Operation Cobra, the Allied breakout of Normandy which began on 27 July 1944, during the Battle of Normandy during World War II....
, and then along the Moselle River
Moselle River
The Moselle is a river flowing through France, Luxembourg, and Germany. It is a left tributary of the Rhine, joining the Rhine at Koblenz. A small part of Belgium is also drained by the Mosel through the Our....
, reaching Germany at the end of the year. During the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
, it was engaged at the Siege of Bastogne along with the 101st Airborne Division
101st Airborne Division
The 101st Airborne Division—the "Screaming Eagles"—is a U.S. Army modular light infantry division trained for air assault operations. During World War II, it was renowned for its role in Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944, in Normandy, France, Operation Market Garden, the...
, where it received the Presidential Unit Citation, and in the spring of 1945 it advanced through southern Germany with the 11th Armored Division, reaching Austria by the end of the war.
Early service
The battalion was formed in December 1941, around a cadre taken from the 58th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, part of the 5th Armored Division. It trained in California and Texas, equipped with M3 GMCM3 GMC
The 75 mm Gun Motor Carriage M3 was a United States tank destroyer and self-propelled artillery piece of the Second World War. It was the most numerous tank destroyer in U.S. Army service, during critical battles in North Africa and the Philippines, and continued to be used in more limited...
s, before moving to Oregon in early 1943 and receiving the new M10 Wolverine
M10 Wolverine
The M10 tank destroyer, formally 3-inch Gun Motor Carriage, M10 was a United States tank destroyer of World War II based on the chassis of the M4 Sherman tank. It was numerically the most important U.S...
tank destroyer. Whilst at the Tank Destroyer Center in Texas, they were described by General A. D. Bruce
A. D. Bruce
Andrew Davis Bruce was an American academic and soldier who served as the third president of the University of Houston. He retired from the United States Army in 1954 as a lieutenant general after seeing action in both World War I and World War II and founding Fort Hood...
as "the finest" tank destroyer battalion yet trained.
The battalion transferred to New York, and then boarded the liner Queen Elizabeth
RMS Queen Elizabeth
RMS Queen Elizabeth was an ocean liner operated by the Cunard Line. Plying with her running mate Queen Mary as a luxury liner between Southampton, UK and New York City, USA via Cherbourg, France, she was also contracted for over twenty years to carry the Royal Mail as the second half of the two...
on 18 April for the voyage to the United Kingdom. It arrived in Scotland on the 27th, and set up camp in southern England on 1 June.
France
The battalion sailed for Normandy in July, and was landed at Utah BeachUtah Beach
Utah Beach was the code name for the right flank, or westernmost, of the Allied landing beaches during the D-Day invasion of Normandy, as part of Operation Overlord on 6 June 1944...
on the 18th, equipped with M18 Hellcat
M18 Hellcat
The 76 mm Gun Motor Carriage M18 was an American tank destroyer of World War II. The manufacturer, Buick, gave it the nickname "Hellcat" and it was the fastest tracked armored fighting vehicle during the war with a top speed up to 60 mph. Hellcat crews took advantage of the vehicle's...
tank destroyers. After two weeks of being held in reserve, they were moved to the front line on the 31st and attached to a task force of Third Army which was assigned to capture the ports along the north coast of Brittany; it pushed through Avranches
Avranches
Avranches is a commune in the Manche department in the Basse-Normandie region in north-western France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. The inhabitants are called Avranchinais.-History:...
and turned westwards towards Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
; from 6 to 16 August B Company was attached to the 83rd Infantry Division. On 17 August, the battalion liberated the town of Paimpol
Paimpol
Paimpol is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France.It is a tourist destination, especially during the summer months when people are attracted by its port and beaches.-Population:...
, on the north coast of Brittany.
Battle for Brest
The Battle for Brest was one of the fiercest battles fought during Operation Cobra, the Allied breakout of Normandy which began on 27 July 1944, during the Battle of Normandy during World War II....
; it was released on 19 September. Meanwhile, the remainder of the battalion was employed fighting on the Crozon Peninsula to the south of the port through September. A shortage of M18s in the supply chain – most battalions in France were equipped with M10s at the time – led to the battalion being assigned a number of M4A3 Shermans
M4 Sherman
The M4 Sherman, formally Medium Tank, M4, was the primary tank used by the United States during World War II. Thousands were also distributed to the Allies, including the British Commonwealth and Soviet armies, via lend-lease...
, which carried the same 76mm gun
76 mm gun M1
The 76 mm Gun M1 was an American Forces World War II-era tank gun, which replaced the 75 mm gun on late Medium tank M4s, and was used for all 76 mm Gun Motor Carriage M18 tank destroyers. The previous 75 mm M3 L/40 gun on the early M4 Sherman variants was designed more as an infantry support...
, as temporary replacements.
The battalion regrouped in late September, and trained replacements, before moving to the Moselle River
Moselle River
The Moselle is a river flowing through France, Luxembourg, and Germany. It is a left tributary of the Rhine, joining the Rhine at Koblenz. A small part of Belgium is also drained by the Mosel through the Our....
. The battalion was attached to the 95th Infantry Division on 15 October, and deployed to relieve the 818th Tank Destroyer Battalion
818th Tank Destroyer Battalion
The 818th Tank Destroyer Battalion was a tank destroyer battalion of the United States Army active during the Second World War. It first saw combat in July 1944, when it deployed into the Normandy beachhead in preparation for the breakout into France by Third Army...
in the Pagny bridgehead on the 20th. It withdrew from the bridgehead in early November, after providing indirect fire support, and was released by the 95th Division on 2 November. It crossed the Moselle again and moved northeast, crossing the border into Germany near Merschweiler on 18 November.
Ardennes
On 16 December, the Germans launched a major offensive throughout the Ardennes region of the Western Front, which would later become known as the Battle of the BulgeBattle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
. The 705th, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Clifford D. Templeton, was ordered by Ninth Army to move south in the evening of 18 December, and join VIII Corps
VIII Corps (United States)
The U.S. VIII Corps was a corps of the United States Army that saw service during various times over a fifty-year period during the twentieth century. The VIII Corps was organized 26–29 November 1918 in the Regular Army in France and demobilized on 20 April 1919. The VIII Corps was soon...
at Bastogne
Bastogne
Bastogne Luxembourgish: Baaschtnech) is a Walloon municipality of Belgium located in the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes. The municipality of Bastogne includes the old communes of Longvilly, Noville, Villers-la-Bonne-Eau, and Wardin...
, a town on a critical road junction in the southern Ardennes. After delays to secure the town of Laroche
Laroche
-People:*Dave LaRoche, baseball pitcher, father of Adam and Andy LaRoche*Adam LaRoche, baseball first baseman for the Washington Nationals, son of Dave, and brother of Andy...
, and a short engagement in which the command group was attacked, the command and combat elements of the battalion had fully arrived in Bastogne late on the night of 19 December. Templeton detached two platoons to hold a bridge at Ortheuville and a platoon to Laroche
Laroche
-People:*Dave LaRoche, baseball pitcher, father of Adam and Andy LaRoche*Adam LaRoche, baseball first baseman for the Washington Nationals, son of Dave, and brother of Andy...
, and the supply and support elements were sent west, escorted by a single M18 and instructed to "hook up with some big friends".
A platoon was sent north from Bastogne on the early morning of the 20th to help relieve Task Force Desobry, defending the northeast approaches to the town. The platoon, accompanying a battalion of paratroopers, blunted the attack of 2nd Panzer Division, destroying a number of German tanks. The battalion was formally attached to the 101st Airborne Division
101st Airborne Division
The 101st Airborne Division—the "Screaming Eagles"—is a U.S. Army modular light infantry division trained for air assault operations. During World War II, it was renowned for its role in Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944, in Normandy, France, Operation Market Garden, the...
, the formation holding Bastogne, on 20 December, and was engaged throughout the siege, fighting a number of small actions. It provided a major part of the 101st's combat capabilities; on the 21st, the total armoured reserve available other than the 705th amounted to about forty operable medium tank
Medium tank
Medium tank was a classification of tanks; the medium being intermediate in size and weight and armament between heavy tanks and light tanks.The medium tank concept has been eclipsed by the main battle tank.-History:...
s.
On the 24th, it was distributed between the 101st's regiments; a platoon to the 501st
501st Parachute Infantry Regiment
The 501st Airborne Infantry Regiment is the first Airborne unit in the United States Military. It has been assigned to the 4th Brigade Combat Team , 25th Infantry Division, U.S. Army, and is located in Fort Richardson, Alaska, to serve as a strategic front to the Department of Defense's Pacific...
, two to the 506th
506th Parachute Infantry Regiment
The 506th Infantry Regiment is a unit assigned to the 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division. During World War II, the unit was designated the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment ....
, two to the 502nd and four to the 327th, with one platoon deployed as a reserve in the town itself. On the 25th, Christmas Day, it was engaged in the thick of the fighting; an attack by eighteen Panzer IV
Panzer IV
The Panzerkampfwagen IV , commonly known as the Panzer IV, was a medium tank developed in Nazi Germany in the late 1930s and used extensively during the Second World War. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz...
s of 15th Panzergrenadier Division was broken up by M18s of the battalion. One half of the attack was caught in a close-range action by units of the 502nd PIR and a platoon of B Company; two M18s were knocked out at the start of the engagement, but the other pair quickly accounted for three Panzer IVs. The other half, meanwhile, was caught in a crossfire between four M18s, a group of M4 Shermans, a group of 105mm howitzer
105 mm Howitzer M3
The 105 mm Howitzer M3 was a U.S. light howitzer designed for use by airborne troops. The gun utilized the barrel of the 105 mm Howitzer M2, shortened and fitted to a slightly modified split trail carriage of the 75 mm pack howitzer....
s and infantry bazooka
Bazooka
Bazooka is the common name for a man-portable recoilless rocket antitank weapon, widely fielded by the U.S. Army. Also referred to as the "Stovepipe", the innovative bazooka was amongst the first-generation of rocket propelled anti-tank weapons used in infantry combat...
s and destroyed.
Throughout the siege, the battalion destroyed around 40 German tanks, and lost only six M18s. The battalion remained stationed in Bastogne for the remainder of the Battle of the Bulge, being released by the 101st on 18 January, and withdrawn to rest and refit. The battalion would later be awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for its role in the defence of Bastogne.
Germany
The battalion was attached to Combat Command B of the 11th Armored Division, part of Third Army, on 24 February, and committed to action on 1 March, when the commanding officer was killed in action. He was succeeded by Major John Dibble.The battalion crossed the Kyll River on 6 March, and pushed towards the Rhine with the 11th Armored, fighting all through March. The 705th crossed the Rhine at Oppenheim
Oppenheim
Oppenheim is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The town is well known as a wine town, the site of the German Winegrowing Museum and particularly for the wines from the Oppenheimer Krötenbrunnen vineyards.- Location :...
on 29 March, and continued to advance across southern Germany in April, seeing action in a number of small engagements. The battalion liberated two prisoner-of-war hospitals and a large forced-labour camp, and late in the month arrived at the Flossenbürg
Flossenbürg concentration camp
Konzentrationslager Flossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the Schutzstaffel Economic-Administrative Main Office at Flossenbürg, in the Oberpfalz region of Bavaria, Germany, near the border with Czechoslovakia. Until its liberation in April 1945, more than 96,000 prisoners...
and Buchenwald
Buchenwald concentration camp
Buchenwald concentration camp was a German Nazi concentration camp established on the Ettersberg near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937, one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps on German soil.Camp prisoners from all over Europe and Russia—Jews, non-Jewish Poles and Slovenes,...
concentration camps.
The battalion crossed the border into Austria on 1 May, and linked up with Soviet Army
Soviet Army
The Soviet Army is the name given to the main part of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union between 1946 and 1992. Previously, it had been known as the Red Army. Informally, Армия referred to all the MOD armed forces, except, in some cases, the Soviet Navy.This article covers the Soviet Ground...
troops on 8 May, the day that the German surrender was announced.
Postwar service
The battalion began occupation duties near LinzLinz
Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria . It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The population of the city is , and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about...
in June, and was inactivated in July. During its year in Europe, it lost 48 men, of whom 30 were killed at Bastogne, and received the Presidential Unit Citation
Presidential Unit Citation
The Presidential Unit Citation is a senior unit award granted to military units which have performed an extremely meritorious or heroic act, usually in the face of an armed enemy...
.
The battalion's lineage is currently maintained by the 1st Squadron, 75th Cavalry Regiment (1–75 CAV).